30/12/2025
A SPECIAL BLANKET FOR THOSE AT THE END OF LIFE. A special hand-woven blanket was presented to Otago Community Hospice by local weaver, Christine Keller. Designed to capture the essence of our service, it will be placed over patients who have died in the Inpatient Unit as they leave the building.
“It is a very emotional time for whānau and this is a small way we can honour that moment, and the journey they and their loved ones have been on”, says CEO, Ginny Green.
The blanket’s colours and design draw inspiration from the three rivers that flow through the Otago Community Hospice service region — the Waitaki, the Taiari (Taieri) and the Mata-au (Clutha) — and the riverbanks that embrace them.
“Hospice care is very like the riverbanks," says Ginny, "holding and supporting patients and whānau through their time of dying,”
Woven through the fabric are multi-coloured vertical threads, representing each patient’s unique journey through life, and through their time with Hospice. The threads running across the fabric bind the piece together, both practically and symbolically. A band of yellow near the top represents the kōwhai - the national symbol of Hospice.
The design is deeply rooted in the holistic wrap-around care that the Otago Community Hospice offers, while the fabric is washable, hard wearing and practical.
"It's a perfect mix," says Ginny, “as hospice services are a balance between the empathy, kindness and compassion the team brings, and the professional, practical solutions that help patients and whānau navigate their journey."
Christine's studio is just down the road from the Hospice’s Inpatient Unit, in the Valley Community Workspace. As well as doing special commissions like this blanket, Christine also runs weaving classes.
“The Valley have always embraced what we do here at Hospice so it was only fitting we worked with a local designer to create this very special blanket“, says Ginny.
After seeing, touching, and admiring the blanket, Inpatient Unit staff expressed how much they looked forward to offering it to whānau. Many were also inspired to enroll in Christine’s classes themselves — keen to weave their own meaningful blankets.
